ｔｈｅ ｂａｌｃｏｎｙ ｂｅｌｏｗ ｍｅ

[vault]

At Ludwig's confused face, he shook his head. "Don't worry about it." Feliciano plopped down, pushing the bag towards him as he scoots over. Following Ludwig's line of sight, he waved happily at Gilbert before repeating the Christmas greeting in German. He knew he man hadn't been watching the WHOLE time, there were gifts here for him, after all, but that he was paying any attention still made him blush a bit. He wasn't about to let being happy feel embarrassing, though, so he smiled widely through the flush, taking Lud's hand in a cheesy gesture. Might as well be proud of it, he surmised.

Anyway, he hoped the small gift could hold him over. He'd designed a cute sweater—well, intentionally pretty ugly, blue and white with snow and a polar bear design—and gotten some friends to help him get all the pieces together, having more limited knowledge of sewing and knitting than he'd thought. Even though Ludwig hadn't explicitly said anything, he tended to stop and stare whenever he saw the bears, so he hoped it'd be an amusing choice at least, and he couldn't fight him on the ugly christmas sweater thing anymore. Wrapped up in it was a copy of his Grandpa's full book that was going to print, the one that Lud had eagerly returned with notes. Feli knew he'd enjoy the complete thing. He'd thought it impractical to bring the other gift, so Ludwig would just have to wait until later.

Meanwhile, he tossed a tiny present to Gil across the room. He thought it only fair, Ludwig's brother was always so nice to him. In that one was a pair of winter-patterned gloves, but instead of christmas trees or poinsettias, baby birds with scarves frolicked amongst the snowflakes. He unfortunately hadn't knitted them himself, but he had hand-designed the pattern, knowing the running joke.

[zombles]

Peeling the wrapping paper as carefully as he could manage, his eyes reading every word on the wrapper paper and getting more distracted by that than looking at the present. The little details, so far, brought a flood of warmth to his chest. Glancing up at Feliciano with a wide grin in anticipation and at the small thought of the wrapping paper. So cute. Ludwig pulled the the sweater out ever so precise, his smile faltering. It was so... Feliciano— he loved it. The smile appeared back onto his face and grew back into a grin, holding out the sweater in front of him. "Thank you," Ludwig took Feliciano's hand, rubbing his thumb over the tan knuckles.

After Gilbert had to rip off the wrapped paper anxiously with a smirk at Feliciano. Eagerly he shoved the gloves onto his hands, practically jumping over the couch to give the brunet a hug, completely ignoring that Ludwig happened to be holding the Italian's hand. On a side note, Gilbert might never admit it (and he wasn't good at covering them up), but he had a slight crush. He was just so adorable.

Spotting his brother's endeavors to capture Feliciano's attention, Ludwig sighed and tugged on his arm. Maybe it was jealously (it definitely was), the blond would not decline it. He would not let Gilbert try to take his boyfriend, nope. That would be weird, honestly, Feliciano ditching him for his brother. And if that was to ever happened, he would have to see Feliciano in their apartment building with him... That just... No. Thankfully, the albino snickered, thanking Feliciano one final time and messing up the fellow German's hair before heading off to go get something from the kitchen.

[vault]

[ oh my god that was precious ]

Eyes twinkling at Ludwig's careful actions—and more importantly, at that wonderful smile, Feliciano can't help but mirror it in his own face, mirth clear as day. Unfortunately, "I'm glad you like it, I thought—" was all he managed to get out before a snowy-haired tornado crashed into him. "Oof—oh no, of course! It's no problem at all. I thought you'd like them." Nodding amicably as the other talked, he chipped in a final "Merry Christmas to you too!" before Ludwig made his subtle request for attention and Gilbert left.

Amusement flickered across his features upon seeing that Ludwig looked a little put out, and Feliciano responded in kind by scooting closer and giving him a caring kiss on the cheek. "Anyway, Grandpa was very amused by your contribution, and I know he read everything. He's strange, he loves that sort of response." He pulled the book out for him, separating it from the sweater and personalized wrapping. "You should read some of it to me sometime, I'm quite interested but you know my attention span—" Feli curls a strand of hair around his finger at this, lightly shaking his head. "—not good." He sighed lazily, shifting position entirely and resting his head on Ludwig's leg to watch the other's expressions. "Didn't I tell you looked great when you smiled, like, the first day we met?" Feli pondered now, content with seeing the happiness in Lud's face. "Because you look amazing when you smile. I was definitely right." Without looking away from Lud he began fiddling with his own wrapping paper, folding it aimlessly into different designs. "I was just saying earlier that I had something else for you, but bringing it with wouldn't make sense. I was going to give it to you when you got back, but, you know." Feli smiles, warm and grateful, bringing his hands up to brush Ludwig's cheeks. He looked so precious, happy and cozy today, and it warmed the Italian's heart.

[zombles]

[ mused died today and my attention span with everything ahhhhhh not gouda ]

Feeling the soft cover of the book set into his hands, Ludwig immediately opened the crisp binding. He gingerly leafed through the pages, not wanting to rip any of the pages from Feliciano's precious gift. "We'll only read a little bit at a time, then," he said in hushed tones, alright starting to read in some places. Feeling the soft head touch down onto his leg and then the words that followed, Ludwig smiled just a little bit, glancing up from his book to make eye contact with the Italian for the moment. "Yes, you did. I remember." Holding the book with one hand, he used the other to gently push the reddish brown locks from the Italian's eyes as he occupied himself with the wrapping paper. "I can always wait," he hummed quietly, leaning into the light brush of his cheeks, enjoying the peace of the moment.

[vault]

[ don't worry about it, I have stuff to do that I have not done ;n; punch me ]

With a quiet giggle at Lud's careful page-turning, Feli nodded enthusiastically. "I'm glad you remember. It's important for you to know." Assuring Lud of his aesthetic attractiveness was important... he had quite a bit, after all. "But you're handsome no matter what, eh, bello." Feliciano traced his features gently with the tips of his fingers, studying everything as Ludwig scanned his eyes from the book to Feli's face with a smile, at which he can't help but beam back. Damn, he had to drop everything and paint him sometime soon, he was such a good subject and Feli couldn't believe he hadn't painted him for real. He would have been perfectly content to just sit there and study Ludwig's face, if it weren't for the quiet grumbling that his stomach was presenting to him. Curling his legs up to distract himself, he let his mind wander back to the art. Maybe he'd use the new paint! Wasn't Lud sweet, he'd bought such nice presents. To thank Ludwig, he tossed the miniature paper plane he'd quietly folded to hit the German lightly in the cheek.

[zombles]

When the paper airplane came in contact with his cheek, Ludwig slowly lowered his book. Though, with a sigh, he closed it silently, setting it to the side and leaning one on his arm to slightly loom over the Italian on his leg. "Are you trying to tell me you want food? Your stomach isn't very good at hiding it, Feli," he gently patted the Italian to get him to get off of him. That way Ludwig could actually get up. "I think we have pancake batter."

[vault]

[ huehue new umlaut I see ]

As feli bit his lip to keep quiet, he realized that attempting to contain his laughter wouldn't work for long. "I didn't say anything," Feli finally chokes out, staring up at the other man with mirth-filled eyes. Using Ludwig's neck and shoulders as balance, he managed to scoot back upright. Instead of the idea Ludwig seemed to have, however, Feli instead around to press himself cozily against Lud's back. It wasn't an attempt to purposely inconvenience the German, rather a poor decision to snuggle brought on by how cute Ludwig was being. Feliciano didn't regret his choice, even as Ludwig attempted to pry him loose. "Pancakes sound great." He hummed into the fabric.

[zombles]

[ im getting so tired of the stupid period, I had to mix things up ]

Ludwig chuckled at the poor attempt to muffle the giggling. Feliciano was bad at that, covering up his laughter, but it was cute. It was a very Feli thing to do. Once the Italian had used him as a rock to stand up, he took the rare opportunity of not coming in physical contact with Feliciano to stand. However, his freedom did not last long when he felt the other squish against his back with a deep sigh. "Hey, I thought you were hungry," he grumbled, now getting hungry as well, and continued to press on towards the kitchen.

[vault]

[ umlauts are good! Unless they're talking about Apfel vs Äpfel bc that frustrates me ]

Ludwig dragging him wasn't bad, per se, but it flustered Feli that he could be moved with such ease... and Ludwig's response of well-mannered grumbling wasn't helping, either. Feliciano let go of Lud then, allowing him to be free to walk with purpose towards the food. Or the food creation area, for that matter.

Upon arrival, he peered around the kitchen, unsure where he'd be of use. "What can I do to help? I can't have you doing all the work." Feli chirped, sincere and eager to assist. There was no reason to have Ludwig do all the work, especially since Feli was a guest. A parasite, almost. Feliciano never quite believed in the tradition of guests not helping, after all. He thought it strange that staying over meant the host must overwork themselves for the sake of their guests.

Speaking of hosts, Gilbert was around somewhere, was he not? Feli had thought for sure that the friendliest of Ludwig's brothers had disappeared for some food. Ludwig might not love all the attention Gil paid him, but Feli adored new friends. More than that, though, he truly loved Ludwig, and knew that Lud understood that. Far more than expected, in fact, even despite their rather whirlwind courtship. At least, he liked to call it such... It added something cheesy and sweet. Getting in the way as little as possible, he moved to Lud's side and took the other man's hand for security and steadiness.

[zombles]

[ languages frustrate me b/c i just wanna be fluent ]

"Uh, well, you can get a bunch of things. A bowl...water...measuring cup...etc." The blond answered, rummaging through the top cabinets before selecting a bright red box. Pulling out the box, he set the batter onto the counter. He slipped a single finger underneath the cardboard, running it along to open up the flap and after that pulled out the bag containing. Coming to a realization, he glanced down at the Italian besides him. He said, "Can you put up with box pancakes? I don't think we have the ingredients to make them homemade..." And started to trail off at the end, mostly talking to himself and acknowledging the tanner hand intertwined with his own.

Gilbert was indeed still in the kitchen. He had been ransacking the refrigerator for that carton of milk he had hid in the back and had taken a swig out of (if Ludwig or his grandfather found out, god knows). Too bad that Feliciano was a distraction, not to mention that Ludwig was one too. Seeing a better opportunity to bother Ludwig, rather than searching for his milk in the fridge, he bounced over to the couple. "Hey Feli!" The albino grinned, setting his elbow onto the Italian's shoulder and leaning. "Oh, ew, you're making pancakes from a box? Lud, I thought you could cook better than that. That's just depressing." The older sibling teased through a large smirk just to earn a glare from the younger..